Bipolar intragastric electrode.



A. G. HURDMAN.

BIPOLAR INTRAGASTRIG ELECTRODE APPLICATION FILED SEPT; 24, 1909.

Patented Mar. 18, 1913.

Jiforzzgy.

cow-um PLANDGRAPH c0., WASHINGTON, D. c.

it l t n i in BIPOLAR- INTRAGASTR-IC ELECTRODE.

Application filed September 2%, H309.

To 11 [ti/10hr '22 Hwy concern:

Be it l :..own that I, f \N ti. .i'iLRDMAN, a subject at the King or Great Britain, rcsiding in the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado 1 l electrodes are insul permit the current to flow freely through the walls of the stomach between the poles, and, third, to provide a bi-polar intra-gastric electrode that can be easily inserted in the stomach and that wil ditluse an electric taradic or galvanic crrrent throughout the tissues and walls of the stomach. I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side view full sizeot the improved device, a p rtion of the length of o omitted for contional view through the pa ts constituting the inven ion; ano 1 i diagrammatic view illi tlr 3e *ation ot the device.

Referring to the designates a hollow covering membe may be made of any suitable mate .1. 1 preferably use for this flexible cord-like me her av soft pliable rubber tube. This rubber tube is of ample len th to be attached at one end to a source of electricity, such as a small dynamo or a battery, and for the opposite end to be inserted through the mouth of a person into the stomach. rubber tube forms a flexible casing or covering oi two small insu-- lated electric current. conductive wires 2 and which project irom the rubber tube at one end for enough be attached to the negative and positive poles of a battery The wire 2 1 term the negative wire and the wire 3 1 term the posi ave wire. Both of the battery terminal ends of these wires are pro vided with conductive terminal contacts 5 and 6, which are adapted to be connected to the poles of a battery. The negative wire extends to an electrode 7 and the positive wire extends beyond the end of the electrode 7 to an electrode 8, which is positioned at a Specification of Letters Patent,

Patented Mar. 18, 3 313,

Serial No. 519,455.

short distance from it. The distance apart of the electrodes may be variec to suit the conditions and requirements of their use and position in the stomach at the time the bipolar electrode is made.

Each of the electrodes 7 and 8 consists of a slug-shaped portion of conductive metal or material, preferably copper, and they are each inclosed in an insulating covering, which may consist of any suitable insulating material, hard rubber being preferable, and they are made in the form or shape of a capsule. These insulating capsule coverings are preferably made in two parts, 9 and 10, and 11 and 12 respectively. The parts 9 and 11 form cap portions and are provided with axial apertures 18 and 1 respectively, while the parts and 12 consist substantially of thimble members, which are screwed upon the caps, as will be presently shown. The end of the rubber tube 1 extends into the aperture 13 of the cap 9, and is secured therein by a pressure fit or other suitable means. The electrodes 7 and 8 are provided with threaded shank portions which are adapted to screw into threaded apertures 13 and 1d of the caps, and the electrode 7 is provided with an axial passage 15 in line with an aperture 16 in the lower end of the thimble 10. A rubber tube 18 of smaller diameter than the tube 1 extends through said aperture 16 and into the passage 15 of the electrode 7, and its lower end extends into the aperture 14 of the cap 11. The cap portions 9 and 11 of these two electrode insulating capsules are each provided with a reduced threaded shouldered portion 19, upon which the thimble portions 10 and 12 are screwed. These thimble portions 10 and 12 extend over the slug-shaped electroces and insulate them from direct cont-act with the gastric mucosa of the stomach, and at the same time the said thimbles permit a free diffusion and flow or" electricity from one electrode to another through the fluids of the stomach, as shown in 3, by a plurality of apertures 20, which are formed in them. The insulated wire 2 extends beyond the lower end of the tube 1, and its lower end is stripped of the insulating material and is secured in any suitable manner to the electrode 7. In the present instance, it is shown extending into a hole which intersects the passage 15 in the said electrode, and thus the current is passed from the wire to the electrode The insu- 

